Kind've Bitten
by AverageAsHeck
Summary: After Clementine's tragedy, her story continues. Telltale ended, but her story doesn't have to.
1. Chapter 1

The morning light is quick to fill up the small room, letting its bright fingers caress the dark shadows that were lurking in the corners. Aj stirred in his sleep, rolling over to look at me, his hair sticking up, and his blankets kicked to the bottom of the mattress. He quickly shot upright and looked at me with a grin, eyes big.

"Clem you're awake!" He giggled excitedly, rushing to my side. Ever since the incident, he's been ecstatic that I'm awake.

I scoot over to let him on my bed, he gives me a bit of an overbearing hug, "Easy there kiddo," I giggled back. "How did you sleep?" I question.

He scooted back to look at me in the face, "I think it was pretty good, no dreams."

"Better than bad dreams," I tell him. He slid off of my bed and started to slip his shoes on. "What are you up to?"

"I'm going to get you some breakfast," he explains, "And Willy wanted help keeping watch."

I smile at him and fully relax on the bed, "Will you send Ruby in here to help with my bandages?" I ask him, "Only if she's awake."

He nods, "Sure Clem, I'll be back in a few minutes." With that, Aj blasted out of the door.

I closed my eyes for a while, seeing the orange hue cascade on my inner eyelid, breathing in the musty odor of the boarding school. This place is so much different than any other camp I've seen, even with... Lee, there wasn't this much structure. There wasn't so much cooperation, there were people going without meals for days at a time. Adults seemed so much more greedy than I remembered them to be, they always had secrets and hidden agendas. Marlon was like them, getting power in all the wrong ways, turning to all the wrong people.

The door creaked open, "Knock-knock!" A southern drawl exclaimed, "I heard we needed some help in here." She smiled down at me. She pushed our desk chair to the side of my bed, I sat up and let my half leg dangle there, feeling the itch that was so familiar in my finger.

Then another figure crept from behind the door, she was carrying a mug that was steaming, "Good morning sleepyhead," Violet said. She sat next to me on the bed and handed me the cup of which is filled with coffee then gave me a peck on the cheek.

"Alright, Clem," Ruby interjected, "You're gonna have to take off your pants, otherwise I'm not going to be able to clean this."

I handed Violet the coffee and used my good leg to give me some leverage to get my pants off, Violet gave me her hand to help keep my balance. I got them kicked off, blush growing on my face as I could feel Vi's green eyes watch me. I gritted my teeth as Ruby unraveled the bandage closer to the end of my stump. I remember when Luke told me that scars were cooler than stumps, he was definitely right.

Violet offered me her hand, "Good thing I ate before this," She winced looking at the wound, then averting her eyes, I took her hand and gripped it, I let Ruby do her thing, cleaning, disinfecting and bandaging.

"How's everything going with Aasim?" I ask Ruby, hoping to release some tension between the everyone.

"Things are going good!" She exclaimed, "He's very sweet and very smart." She smiles, feeling proud of herself.

"I'm glad," Violet said.

"How about you two?" Ruby asked as if she caught us in the act.

I look at Vi, "I think we're doing as good as expected," I shrug, "It's new to me, so I would say it's going great." Violet relaxed a little as I said that, "I think it's time we start taking it easy now that we aren't fighting raiders."

Vi nodded, "That's probably a good idea."

"Well I think I'm done here," Ruby said standing up, "Send someone if you need me, otherwise I'll check back with you in the morning to clean it up again." She brushed her hands off on her pants and gathered her equipment before leaving.

"Thank you, Ruby," I called out before she closed the door.

"Of course Clem." She called back.

Violet set the now luke-warm coffee on the dresser in between the bunks. "I guess I have a pantsless Clem all to myself." She gave me a snarky grin.

She sat down close to me, her eyes looking deep into my own, "Aj will probably be here soon now that Ruby left, so don't get too excited." I mention.

"Me? Excited?" She mocked. She put her hand on my good leg, "Clem... I really want you to know that I'm happy that you're here. If you didn't come back... I don't know where I would be right now." She said with an expressed sadness.

I could see the seriousness in her face, how she seemed to look away from my eyes, I put my hand on her face and leaned into her lips. They were always so soft, especially when she kissed me back. We haven't really kissed longer than a peck, I pulled back and lingered there for a second. My fingers intertwined in her hair, urging her closer to me, and she did. She came closer to me, kissed me deeply, and lightly at the same time. Her arm slinked around my waist. My left arm went back to the mattress, the only thing keeping me in a sitting position.

Her kisses were sweet and seductive, making my stomach seem like it was on fire, warm and uncomfortable. I liked it. It was addictive, and hard to pull myself away from. She lightly pushed me on my back, and then pulled her mouth away from mine so she could look at me. Her pinky-less left hand stroked a loose strand of hair from my face.

"I could do this all day," Violet said, "Actually, I wish I could freeze this moment right here, right now, and live in it forever." Violet could really drop her hard ass attitude sometimes and become some sort of poet. I loved that.

"You and me, living in our little forever," I state. "I like the sound of that."

The door swung open again, and Aj walked in with a bowl of what I can only guess is oatmeal. He started giggling instantly, "Where are your pants?" I leaned up and he kept on laughing, "I brought you your breakfast."

"Ruby cleaned me up, and I was too tired to put my pants back on," I only half lied to him, but he doesn't need to know more than that. He handed me my bowl, "Thanks goofball."

He rolled his eyes at me but brushed it off, "Willy and I found some old sports equipment and he's gonna teach me how to play catch really good!" He exclaimed, "Violet will you come to play with us later? Pl_eeeeeeaa_aasse?" He asked.

"If Clem is feeling up to it later, I'll come and play with you guys," Vi said, and we both watched Aj get so excited he danced out of the room.

"You didn't have to do that...," I trailed off.

She shrugged, "I want to." We both laid on our backs, looking through the cracks of the bunk above us. "Sometimes I wish I could just be a teenager, ya'know?"

I turned my head to look at her, "What do you mean?"

"Like hate my parents, and say '_fuck you' _to everything." She said as if she was reminiscing on something she didn't have, "And you know just get into trouble for having sex or smoking weed." She let out a chuckle.

"I think I can kinda understand that," I tell her. "Did you and Minnie ever...?" I started.

"Ever what- Oh...," She seemed to duck away from the question.

"You don't have to tell me, I was just curious."

She shook her head, "Not really... We did things, but we didn't really get to everything, Minnie was weird when it came to sex, she didn't really talk about it, didn't really want it." Violet crossed her arms over her chest. "I know you're new to this, so I don't expect you to jump the gun right away."

That kinda made me sad for her, it made me want to show her love that nobody else has. It makes me want her to feel like an actual teenager like we're doing something wrong, but so right.

"I want to," I said, "With you I mean."

"You don't have to say that to make me feel better Clem." She spoke lightly.

I shook my head, "I'm not saying it to make you feel better," I tell her, and I could just feel an eyeroll happening, "I mean it."

She sat up, hunched over, classic Violet.

"What's wrong?" I ask sitting up now.

She leans her head on her knuckles but turns to look at me. "How did Aj manage to get you here? I heard bits and pieces... but I nobody really told me the whole story."

She expressed real concern for me, more than what the others have. "Well... from what Aj told me, he wasn't going to kill me."

"You told him to kill you?" She asked.

"He figured if Abel could survive a bite, then I could too." I looked at her expression, eyebrow raised and a slight frown. "He said I passed out after the first chop, and it took several... After that, he found some rope in the barn, and made a tourniquet." I bit my lip, the Aj was insane to take on such responsibility. I was right to trust him with the tough calls, he knew what the right choice was.

"Weren't you guys swarmed though?" Violet looked like she was solving one of the worst puzzles ever.

"They couldn't get into the barn, the wood was strong enough to hold." I shake my head, "Aj remembered that I had flint in my pocket from the cave, and he started a fire with some hay and cauterized it with the axe blade."

"Damn, he really figured out everything then, he's a smart little guy." She nodded approvingly.

"Then he figured out how to get rid of all the walkers through the fencing of the barn, and here I am." I gave her a little grin.

Violet was quiet, then she kissed me on the cheek, "If you have some time to kill, so do I."


	2. Chapter 2

The afternoon haze was melting down in the sky, leaving a golden glimmer on everything in sight. I sat on a nearby table, listening to the shrill giggle that erupted from Aj every time he caught a ball that either Violet or Willy passed to him. He loved it, and Violet was more than encouraging each time the oversized baseball glove captured the ball. He would throw it perfectly to them almost every single time, I was impressed.

The idea of baseball reminded me of Javier. It makes me wonder what happened to him...

My dad.

He loved the sport to death, sometimes I'd have to stay home while Mom and Dad went to a game, I suppose tickets were too expensive to spend on a kid that knows nothing about baseball. Still, I wish I got to see a game. At least once.

"Alright Aj," Willy said with a tone that sounds like he had a plan in mind, "See if you can catch this!" He lobbed the white ball at the ground and it bounced out of control towards him, Aj rushed at it. He didn't quite get it, but he still laughed erratically as he gained ground on it. "That's called a grounder!" Willy called it.

Aj took ahold of the ball and tried to replicate the throw, lobbing it at the ground, it rolled slightly but he eventually stayed still in the grass, "Try and catch that!" Aj remarked.

"Okay, if we're starting to do trick shots I'm going to have to leave it up to the pros," Violet said, "Besides, it's almost time to eat." She slipped the old leather baseball mitt off of her hand and dropped it to the ground. She trotted over to me, sitting on the creaky wooden bench seat, she leaned back on the table part, using it as a backrest. Her right arm stretched behind my shoulders and pulled me into a side embrace, I leaned into her shoulder where my face tucked perfectly into the crook of her neck. Though it was still warm outside considering that the summer season is almost over, I couldn't help but love how Vi's warmth felt through my clothing.

I close my eyes, enjoying the sound of Aj and his newfound friend, and the protective feeling of Violet's body. I took her left hand into my left hand looking at the missing fingers that used to be present. As weird as it sounds, I've gotten used to it. The itch comes and goes some days as if it still exists on my hand, with time it has lessened. Violet looked at my finger, with a raised eyebrow.

"You've never told me the story, " She said, gesturing towards the missing appendage.

I give her a smirk, "Aj bit it off when he was teething." I joked in my most serious tone. She looked at me with a look of juxtaposition, wondering how I could tolerate being with someone like that. "I'm kidding Vi, " I tell her.

"Psh, yeah I knew that, " She said matter-of-factly.

"Actually, it got slammed in a car door a couple of years ago and it was pretty much unusable," I tell her.

"Right, " Vi compared our hand's side by side, her fingers were skinny and long, mine are skinny too but fairly short. Her nails were trimmed right to the skin, "I don't know if you've heard but-uh-" she held up her fingers and wiggled them, "Some lunatic and a butchers knife got to this one."

She gave me a quick and quiet chuckle. "It's weird at first, isn't it?"

She looked down at it, "Sometimes it's like it's still there like I feel like I can still move it."

"It'll probably be like that for a while," I explain.

She looked at my leg, "What's that feel like?"

It made me nervous how much she looked me up and down, her eyes were always watching, always collecting information. "Sometimes I feel like none of its real like I just imagined it all happening."

Her eyes wandered my face, and down to my lips, settling there for a brief moment before fluttering away. Just then Omar called everyone for dinner.

As darkness fell, so did the temperature. The coolness fell over my skin, Vi walked me to our room. Aj walking slowly behind us as if to not disturb us. We stopped outside of the door, and Aj watched from a distance.

"Why don't you come stay with me tonight?" She asked.

I looked over at Aj, "He isn't going to want to stay alone Vi." I sighed, even though I really want to, it's not fair to leave him by himself.

"Louis actually said he'd let him stay in his room tonight." She smirked.

"You asked him?"

"Only because I knew you would say no, " I rolled my eyes. "Please Clem?"

How could I say no? We both could use some actual time alone, without worry of someone breaking our moments of frozen pieces of time. "Hey kiddo, " I turn to him, "How would you like to stay with Louis tonight? I heard he might have board games, " I watched his eyes light up.

"Really?!" He exclaimed, "You mean it?"

"Sure Goofball, " I tousled his hair, "Remember: Sleep tight and don't let the walkers bite, " he excitedly bounced on his feet, "And if they try?"

He got into a shooting position, "Bang!" He gave me a hug, "Goodnight Clem, I love you."

"I love you too, Goofball," I said as I hugged him back. "See you in the morning."

Violet half carried me up the stairs that led up to Marlon's old office, she started to live in there after he passed, and I didn't mind that. The room was so much further away from everyone else's rooms. It was quiet and had a balcony overlooking the whole campus, which was illuminated from the moon and twinkling stars. It reminded me of the night that we sat on the bell tower, of our first kiss under that alluring light. The way she stuttered after I confessed what I felt for her. The thought made happiness rush through my body, giving me chills. I liked the feeling of her trying to awkwardly hold my hand.

Violet sat me down on her mattress that was tucked in the corner of the office, Rosie was balled up on the bottom of the bed. I leaned over to give her a pat on her backside, her ears folded back in approval. Then Violet pulled out an old bag, which contained a blue-ish box with earbuds connected to it. She plopped down next to me.

"After that party we had," she spoke softly, "I thought of Minnie a lot, and how much she loved music, so I went through some of the old stuff that she left to Tenn, and I found this." She put it in my hands. It was roughly the size of my hand, "It's called a Walkman," I handed it back to her.

It made me uneasy to talk about Minerva and her past relationship with Violet. "What's it do?" I asked curiously.

"It plays music," she explained, "Back before... Well, we couldn't have any devices that connected to the internet, no computers, no cell phones... Nothing." She gave me a slight look of happiness, "But we were allowed to have some of these bad boys."

"It looks really old," I joke.

"That's because it is," she popped it open and put what I can only assume is a cassette tape inside. She hands me an earbud, "Minnie didn't have the worst taste in music, better than the shit that Ericson left here."

She pressed play as I put an earbud in, we both laid back on the mattress, I rested my head on her shoulder, feeling her arm pull me closer. Everything that she did made me smile, it made me forget mostly. It made me forget that I had lost everything in my life to get here. I lost my house, my family, my treehouse, I lost the innocence of youth and everything that comes with it. But Violet's embrace made me forget that, or maybe just numbed it until I could feel it again. I lost the people in life that mattered most to me only to make room for new people in my life. People who give me a new purpose in life, everything that's worth fighting for is here now. Everything I love is here now. Everything I used to love still continues in my heart, reminding me in all sorts of ways. Lee's advice, his final words before he was gone for good, the way I sometimes can imagine what he would say to me in different situations. He was a fighter, and he made me become one too.

Violet's foot tapped in an unruly rhythm, her fingers traced patterns on my exposed skin, it raised goosebumps with every pass. We watched the ceiling, as if something was going to happen as if it would just become something else, it never did.

"I remember when I was a kid and we had those sticky stars that covered my room," She spoke all of a sudden, "I got to make my own constellations, I loved the way they looked at night, even though they were a bit distracting."

"I had those too." I pull the earbud out in remembrance. "Except mine were there for as long as I could remember," I remember the way they lit the ceiling up like magic, making it feel like I was in my own little universe. "I had so many that it was almost as cool as looking at the real thing."

Vi's hand stopped its movement, "Sometimes I believe that this whole 'apocalypse' situation was for the better." She sounded sad as she confessed it, "My family was always miserable, never having enough money, always fighting and arguing." She had a type of sadness wash over her I haven't really seen much from her, "My dad, he-uh, well... He would get really violent sometimes, and throw things... I remember the first time he hit my mom...," her voice trailed off.

"I'm sorry Vi, we don't have to talk about it anymore if you don't wanna," I tell her and reach out to grab her hand.

"It just makes me so angry," her voice had a bit more venom behind it now, "I was such a coward... There were so many times that I should have called the police and I never did."

It made more sense now, the more she reveals. She's caring and fond of the people she loves. When her grandma committed suicide right next to her, calling the police was probably the last things she was going to resort to, she never resorted to it before. Getting out of that situation was probably the best thing she could have done.

"You can't blame yourself," I calmly tell her.

"How can you say that? You had a cushy life Clem, your parents loved you, you had your own room and a treehouse, you said so yourself." She said, and I pulled my hand away from her. "I didn't mean it like that Clem, I just meant... You didn't have to live with what I did... That's all."

"But here we are Violet, in the same situation," This time she reached out for me, and I let her, "That has to mean something to you."

She sighed, and rubbed the back of my hand, "You have no idea how much this means to me, how much you mean to me." She leaned in and brushed her lips against mine.

"I think that I might have some idea," I poke her in the side, making her jump a little.

"Yeah?" She countered.

"Yeah."

She gave me a quick smile, and then helped me adjust to the laying the right way on the bed, and coaxing Rosie off of the bed so we could have some more leg room. I laid closest to the wall, and let Violet blow out the candle before kicking off her boots and tattered jeans, I did the same. She fiddled around in an old dresser and came back with a t-shirt on instead of her usual hoodie and vest.

"Do you want a shirt to sleep in?" She asked.

I could feel my cheeks heat up as I answered, "Um, sure, why not?" She tossed one to me, and I took off my couple of layers and slid the shirt on. It smelled like violet, slightly sweet and like the woods at the same time. I liked it. It was tight fitting, unfortunately, Violet is much thinner than me, so it definitely was a little more revealing than what I was used to anymore. "Thank you."

"Anytime kiddo," she snickered.

"Why kiddo?" I ask.

"Because you're so much younger than me," she explained.

"What does that make you- a cradle robber?" I poke fun back at her.

"I lost track a little, but I'm pretty sure my nineteenth birthday is in the next month," She ignores my joke, "I'm starting to feel old." She chuckled.

Falling asleep with Violet is as easy as falling in love with her. She made me feel safe. She told me how she was feeling, she told me things that she never told anyone, as far as I know, she would walk to the end of the earth to find me again. Nothing could tear me apart from her, not even a walker bite.


	3. Chapter 3

I rolled over in Violet's bed, the morning light brightening the room up almost too extreme, and find that I'm in there alone. Rosie was gone, and so was the lanky girl. I sit up in the bed, stretching out, I notice there's a note on the side of the bed that Vi was laying on. It read:

_Clem, _

_As much as I love laying in bed all day, we need food. I'll be back this afternoon._

_Love, Vi_

I let my eyes read over her neat and tidy handwriting, memorizing the way that they looked. I smile to myself, happy that she at least left me a note, _it would have been better if she told me _ I think. I shake my head and notice my jeans that she must've folded for me before she left. I start stripping the shirt off that she let me borrow, and put on my own clothes.

Then there's a knock at the door, "Clem?" Ruby's voice calls.

I look at the door as it starts to open, "I'm in here," I call back.

"Oh good, Violet said that I would find you in here," She comments and walks over to the bed, "I just came to check on your leg."

I didn't put my pants on yet, so I didn't have to worry about taking them off again, "It's starting to get more manageable every day," I tell her.

"That's good, we don't want any infection." She starts unwrapping it and then cleaning it. "So how was your night with Violet?" She asks fishing for drama I'm sure.

"It was fine," I say.

"Just fine, huh?" Her cheeks were red, as if she really wanted to know, but didn't want to ask.

I look at her with a raised eyebrow, "Yeah, it was really nice, Violet is really good about making sure I'm comfortable."

"She really likes you," She states, "Hell she never stops talking about you, especially when you're not around."

I could feel my own cheeks heat up, "Really?"

She continues wrapping my leg, "Violet is really protective you know? Once she finds something worth fighting for, she never gives up," She explains, "When Minnie was around, even when she wasn't anymore, that was all she could focus on. When Marlon said she was gone... Well, she didn't really live anymore. She kinda just sat out and watched life pass her by."

"She really loved her then...," I trail off.

Ruby shook her head, "She loved her, but they weren't right for each other, Minnie was a bit... Spineless to say the least."

I nodded my head, letting those words soak in, "What was Minnie like to you?" I had to know, there had to be something that I wasn't getting about her, like how she could be on all these people's minds. "When I met her in front of the raiders boat... I knew we couldn't trust her, inside of the boat, I shouldn't have trusted her...," I tightened my jaw, remembering the experience.

Ruby finished with my leg and then sat next to me. "Minnie wasn't much of a fighter when she was with us, she was kinda like Louis in that way, just focused on her music and nothing else." She told me, "Her head was on crooked it seemed, they got here the same time Tenn did, her and Sophie. I think they had a lot of problems at home."

"Explains why they were here then," I comment.

Ruby Stands up, and looks at me, "Clem, you have nothing to worry about, that girl is head over heels for you."

It's always so reassuring to hear that from somebody else. "Thank you, Ruby, I needed that."

"Anytime Clem," She responded and then she left.

I put my pants back on and proceeded to straighten up Violet's bed. Then I gathered my crutches and continued down the creaking stairs and out the door of the old boarding school. Aj was up and eating breakfast with Louis and Willy. Louis was smiling while Willy and Aj giggled and either farting or burping. It eased my heart to see that those three got along so well. Ever since we arrived here it seemed like Aj really looked up to Louis. I hobbled closer to their table and sat next to Louis to join them.

"How did you sleep last night Aj?" I ask him.

He grinned at Louis, "Great! We played checkers and I won!"

"That's great kiddo!" I tell him. I always loved it when he got excited about things. His eyes would always get wide, and his body language just had abrupt happiness. "What are you going to be doing today?" I ask him.

He looked at Willy, "I think we were going to do some target practice with an old bow we found," he tells me.

"Yeah, it's gonna be awesome!" Willy cuts in.

"That sounds like fun," I tell them.

Aj looks at me, "You should come too Clem," He tells me, "You could be a-uh-aaaaa..."

"A coach?" I ask.

"Yeah, a coach," He repeats.

I nod, "I can try to help, at least until the hunting crew gets back," The boys both cheer and finish up their food.

They found an old recurve bow, the string is a bit frazzled and could use waxed, as well as a bit of cleaning. Willy tries to shoot first, his stance is good, he knows how to shoot a bow, but a compound and a recurve have different feels to them. There's a lot more that goes to a compound, and if the weights aren't correct it can be tough to have a good shot. He pulls the string and hits the target several times. Then he collects the arrows and hands them to Aj.

"What do I do first Clem?"

"Well, first you hold the bow in your left hand," He adjusts his grip, "Your other left," I chuckle. "Then you grab an arrow and put it above the nock, with the different colored feather sticking outwards,"He does as I tell him, "Okay, then you hold it up so you can line the tip of the arrow with the target, and pull the string back to your cheek, then when you're ready, release it."

He releases the arrow, and it's a little short from the target. "Try again," I tell him.

He hits the bottom of the target now, and he gets excited, "Clem! I did it!"

"You sure did," I tell him, "See if you can get a bullseye now."

He takes a couple of shots and scatters the arrows across the target. "This is hard," He tells me.

"That's why you practice," I tell him, and then sit down at the table near them. "I'm going to sit over here if you need me."

The two boys continue to shoot arrows for some time after that, I start looking at the chaos this place turned into after the shoot out. I wonder what we are going to do with this place, there's so much wrong with it, and I have no skills in carpentry. The gate could use more work, after the raiders charged it, its a bit under protective. I think back to that night, and how horribly everything went, how they took Louis's tongue out... It was all my fault. It was him or Vi...

Nobody should have to make a choice like that.

As dinner time approached, so did my hope for Violet to return. I missed looking at her, feeling her hands on me. Her protective shielding from the outside world. My skin almost craved it now, wanting to feel her skin on me again, just like last night, her bare thighs pressed against the back of my own. Not only did I seem to crave for her physical attention, but I missed her cunning wit too.

All of a sudden two hands covered my eyes, "Guess who?" A voice whispered in my ear. I could recognize that Violet was behind all that, especially since I could see through the gap of her missing finger.

"Violet?" I ask.

The hands uncover my eyes, "Way to ruin the fun, spoilsport," She says. "I got you something."

I look at her, and she hides her hands behind her back. "You didn't have to get me anything," I tell her.

"Of course I did, now close your eyes," I close my eyes, and feel her kiss my lips.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"Nothing," She chuckles, "Here."

She hands me a bouquet of flowers, tiny little white, yellow, and purple flowers. Wrapped up in a small rope. I look into her eyes, watching the intense green stare into my own eyes. I loved those green eyes. I leaned in and kissed her softly, "Thank you, I love them," I tell her.

"I thought you might like them," She tells me.

I embrace her, feeling her thin body against my own. That craving seemed to subside momentarily, I almost wanted it to return. "I really do like them, I'm going to hang them to dry in my room."

She gave me a light smile, "Well I'm starving, fishing takes a lot out of you."

We ate dinner with everyone, cracking light jokes and enjoying Omar's cooking. I can't help but think of how lucky we ended up... How we somehow, some way we ended up with all these amazing people, and how they made me feel. Aj needed a place to stay, to live. Life on the road was getting riskier every day. Who would have known if the car would have even lasted much longer, sure it ran, but what happens when gas doesn't work anymore? Or if I had gotten bitten out there... We couldn't have been so lucky. There's just an itch in the back of my mind that tells me that we could have ended up with Lilly and her crew, and if that would have happened Marlon would have most definitely surrendered all of the kids to them. That selfish asshole.

Some part of me believes that it's luck, another believes that it's fate.

After dinner, Violet and I sat around the fire, she held me close. Ruby, Omar, and Aasim were nowhere to be seen, but Aj, Willy, and Louis played with a pack of cards at the dinner table. Violet's arm was around my midsection, her fingers fiddled with my jacket. That was something I noticed about her, she was a fiddler. Sometimes it was her sleeve or a pin on her jacket, other times it was a piece of string or something. Her hands were always keeping busy.

"How was the stream today?" I ask her.

She kept watching the fire, "It was okay, only a couple of fish today."

I leaned closer into her, absorbing her heat. "I missed you," I tell her.

She looked away from the fire and planted a kiss on my forehead. "I'm here now aren't I?"

"You are," I confirm.

We sat in silence for a long time, soaking in each other's company. I loved that things weren't awkward between us, we could be silent, or we could talk about anything. "So you never told me... What were your parents like?" Violet questioned, breaking the silence and crackling of the fire.

"My parents?" I kinda asked, but mostly stated.

"Yeah, like what did they do?" Violet said, "Sorry, that was a dumb question, you don't have to answer that."

I paused for a second, trying to actually remember things about my parents. "Well, my Dad was an engineer, and my Mom was a doctor," I told her.

"Explains why your so smart," She states, "My Dad fucking sucked... My Mom was never around, I shouldn't blame her, but I do. She was always at work, didn't know that my Dad was such a monster."

"I remember on Saturdays, my Dad and I would get up early to make pancakes, it was the best... I'd kill for a pancake now," I reminisced. I haven't thought about that since the start of all of this. I loved those memories. I never even got to say goodbye.

Violet smiled, "He sounds like a good dad."

"I wish you could meet him, he was the best. Lee always reminded me of him," I tell her.

"The man you killed?" She asks softly.

"He taught me everything that I knew, he taught me how to survive. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him," I tell her remembering the man. How he gave his life to protect me, and how he saved me.

Violet's arm around me gripped me a little harder, "Well thank the universe for him, otherwise, I would have never met you."

"And without your horrible parents, I would have never met you," I tell her.

Violet let go of me and turned her whole body to face me, the fire's amber glow reflected in her blonde hair. She rested her hand on my leg, "So I have something that I want to tell you, but I don't want you to get mad at me," she says. My heart starts pumping hard, and nervousness starts to flow through my body. My muscles began to shake. "It's not bad, I promise... I uh- I have to think of how I want to say this... Shit."

I put my hand on her leg now, "Just tell me, Vi, what's wrong?" I ask her. My body still slightly shaking, I knew she could feel it.

"Nothing's wrong... That's the point," she gives me a goofy grin, something I haven't necessarily seen from her before. "Clem, I think... I think I'm somehow, someway, falling in love with you," She turned away from me, as if in embarrassment. "I understand if you don't feel the same way as I do and if you think I'm weird-"

I cut her off, pulling her to face me, and giving her a kiss. A kiss like I've never experienced before, it was hot and full of lust. I pulled away slightly, looking deep into her green eyes, "Would you think I was weird if I told you that I'm pretty sure I'm falling in love with you too?" She kissed me again, nearly knocking me backwards into the dirt we were sitting in.

"I would definitely think that you were weird," She said as she pulled away, "But I think that just makes me love you even more."

Violet walked me into my room, she sat on my bed and watched me intently. Her eyes were different than usual, lustful perhaps. Aj walked in behind us, and I sat next to Vi, her hand on top of mine. As Aj strolled in, he went and sat on his bed.

"Is Vi spending the night?" He asked me. His little eyes are always so curious, searching for information.

"That's up to her, why do you want her to?" I ask him back.

He squeaked a little like he does when he's excited, "Yeah! That would be so cool!"

Cool probably wouldn't be the word I would use, but he really liked Violet, he thinks she's smart and I couldn't agree more. "Why not little dude, I can stay the night if you really want me to," Violet said, a little bit of a devious snicker was hiding in there. I pushed her a little bit, she feigned hurt, "Ouch, totally not fair!"

"Yeah right," I roll my eyes.

"You pushed my hand on this one, this isn't my call," She jokes, and then hurriedly grabs a pillow from my bed. "I think this calls for war!"

Aj started giggling, and then she hits me with the pillow, "Aj are you just going to sit there or are you going to help?" I ask him, in a voice that mocked me getting hurt.

Aj grabs a pillow, and then rushes at Vi, hitting her with the pillow several times. "I've got your back Clem," He says to me.

The two laughed, it warmed my heart. I loved how well they got along. Violet then fell to her knees, "You are a worthy opponent," She tells him, "I think I am done for."

"Ha! I won!" Aj exclaims, "Go, team, Clem!" He giggled.

"Okay you two, it's time for bed," I told them.

"But Clem, five more minutes! Please?" He begged, "I won, please?"

"Okay, fine, five more minutes, but start getting ready for bed," I command, and he did start getting ready. Violet climbed into my bed, after taking her shoes off and settling in. I did too.

"I love you, Clem," Aj said.

"I love you, too Alvin Jr, goodnight kiddo."

After I blew out the candle, I tucked my crutches between the bunkbed and the dresser. Then Violet pulled me into her arms. Her warm arms that made me ache with longing and excitement all at once. Finally, it seemed like I belonged somewhere, to someone. It started to feel like home.

"I love you, Clem," Violet whispered in my ear.

"I love you, too," I whispered back.

Sleep took over quickly that night, quicker than most. Vi's arms became my safe haven now, my place of protection. Even if she is skinny and not super strong. She was my protection, my protector. Someone that I could tell everything too, someone who would tell me everything about herself. I liked that, because trust is hard to come by anymore, and I would like to think that I could trust Vi with my life, and even more importantly, Aj. That's what mattered most to me anymore.

I settled into that creaky old mattress, and pulled Vi as close as humanly possible, listening to her heartbeat rhythmically. It was soothing and full of life like I always hoped it would be. She wasn't someone who was just going to take care of me, but I was going to take care of her. Maybe until the end of the world, or perhaps until the end of time. Sharing that with someone has never been more important to me. Her breathing eventually evened out, soft and mellow... asleep. I had my ear half on her shoulder and half on her chest. Eventually, the steady breathing lulled me to sleep.

I loved Violet, she loved me. Her and Aj were the only things that actually mattered to me now.


End file.
